Plural-compartment admixing vial



Nov. 30, 1954 M. L. LOCKHART 2,695,614

PLURAL-COMPARTMENT ADMIXING VIALS Filed Dec. 10, 1952 I N V E N TO R IM25544; A Z. [am #4:;

WEMWM IMWi l ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent 2,695,614 PLURAL-COMPARTMENT ADMIXING VIAL MarshallL. Lockhart, Rutherford, N. L, assignor to The Compule Corporation,Rutherford, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 10,1952, Serial No. 325,169

1 Claim. (Cl. 128-272) The present invention relates to improvements inplural-compartment admixing vials of the type disclosed in my priorPatent No. 2,610,628 of September 16, 1952, and, more particularly, tothe segregating seat and gate plug fitted thereinto intervening adjacentchambers.

A general object of the present invention is to provide suchplural-compartment admixing vial structure which is of simple andinexpensive construction, economically producible on a mass productionbasis, and permits rapid loading with minimum care and s A more specificobject of the present invention is to provide such vial structurewherein adjacent chambers are separated from each other by a constrictedportion providing a seat in which an elongated segregating gate plughaving flared ends may be seated by a loader with minimum tendency tomove on through into a far chamher during loading operations, therebysubstantially eliminating excessive costs of discards or salvage.

Another object of the present invention is to provide such vialstructure in which such a flare-ended gate plug will be automaticallyself-centering in its seat.

A further object of the present invention is to provide structuralembodiments of the invention which permit efficient use and operationthereof.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obviousand will in partappear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangements of parts, which will beexemplified in the con-- struction hereinafter set forth, and the scopeof the in-- vention will be indicated in the claim.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational View of an embodiment of' the vial structure ofthe present invention;

F Fig. 2 is an axial section of the structure shown in.

Fig. 3 is an axial section, with parts broken away, of the structureshown in Fig. 2, indicating in full lines: the possible position of thegate plug when a loader' pushes it too far as it is inserted in itsseat, and illustrating in dot-dash lines automatic self-centeringmovement of said gate plug hack to its proper position;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevational view, with parts: broken away andin section, of the gate plug shown in. Figs. 1 to 3 incl;

Fig. 5 is an end elevational view of the gate plug shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 6-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is an axial section similar to Fig. 2 but with. the closingpiston plug shown in side elevation rather than section, andillustrating a modified form of the: seat into which the gate plug isseated; and

Fig. 8 is an axial section similar to Fig. 7 illustrating: firingoperation of the loaded vial of Fig. 7.

Prior to the present invention, many plural-compa rt-- ment admixingvials of the type illustrated in my prlor' Patent No. 2,610,628 havebeen employed to advantage, but certain embodiments thereof havepresented. loading problems where unskilled loaders are employed. If thegate plug is made of rather slippery material, such as elastic rubbercomposition having a high s1l1- cone content, or is too readily slidableas a result of.

2,695,614 Patented Nov. 30, 1954 wetting of surfaces of the plug or itsseat, loaders at times. may, should they fail to use due care, push thegate plug on through the seat into the far chamber after the latter hadbeen loaded with material. As a result, manufacturing and loading costsmay be unduly increased since in such event such partially loaded vialseither will be discarded or require expensive salvage operationsentailing removal of the material loaded into the far chambers and/orthe gate plugs which had been accidentally pushed through their seats.Further such salvage operations endanger required or desired sterileconditions and may tend to contaminate the loaded materials. These andother problems attendant upon the use of such prior structures areeasily and economically eliminated by the present invention.

Referring to the drawing, in which like numerals identify similar partsthroughout, it will be seen that one embodiment of the present inventionmay comprise an elongated vial or substantially tubular bottle 10constricted between its ends 11 and 12, preferably in the vicinity ofits mid-section 13, to provide a circular internal seat 14. In theembodiments shown in Figs. 1 to 3 incl. and Figs. 7 and 8, such a vialhas its bottom end 11 closed oil by an integral transverse wall 15 whichforms with the constricted mid-section 13 a far chamber 16 into whichany suitable materials, such as soluble solids 17, are loaded. The otherend 12 of vial 10 preferably is provided with an elongated,substantially cylindrical neck 18 which defines with the constrictedmid-section 13 a second storage chamber "ice 19 in which a body 20 ofliquid vehicle may be stored.

The outer end of the neck 18 preferably is closed off by a piston plug21, and inward sliding motion thereof may}; be limited by a constriction22 at the base of the nec In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3incL, the seat 14 is of substantial length and may be inwardly crowned,as shown. The diameter of seat 14 at its mid-portion and the diametersof its outer ends are substantially less than the diameters of thesolids chain ber 16 and the liquid chamber 20, as shown. Thus thesurface of the seat 14 is hyperbolically shaped.

As is best seen in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, gate plug 23 is an elongated bodyof an elastic material having a substantially cylindrical mid-section 24of a diameter intermediate the diameter of the mid-portion of seat 14and the diameters of the chambers 16 and 19. It may be formed or moldedfrom any suitable elastic material, such as a rubber composition whichmay have a relatively high silicone content. Thus the surface of thegate plug 23 may be quite slippery. Opposite ends 25, 25 of theelongated gate plug 23 are enlarged and flared laterally, as shown.Accordingly, when gate plug 23 is suitably centered in seat 14 itsflared ends 25, 25 are disposed on opposite sides of the mid-portion ofthe seat in the vicinity of the flared ends of the latter where the seatsurfaces are sloped outwardly to mergence obliquely with the insidewalls of the chambers 16 and 19. In fact, elastic gate plug 23 isconfined under compression in the hyperbolically shaped .seat 14 andwill be shaped by the confinement substantially complementary thereto. 7

As illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, the internal elongated seat provided bythe waist constriction 13 may be substantially flat and cylindrical asshown at 114 with the surfaces of the ends thereof sloped outwardly tomergence obliquely with the internal walls of chambers 16 and 19. Insuch an embodiment the flared ends 25, 25 of the gate plug 23 will bepositioned beyond the ends of the substantially cylindrical section ofthe seat 114 so as to be fitted to the outwardly sloped mergingsurfaces, as 18 best seen in Fig. 7.

Automatic self-centering action of gate plug 23 in embodiments of thetypes illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 incl. and 7 and 8, will be understoodin connection with a recital of typical loading operations.

A loader may load an embodiment of the vial illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3incl. by placing a quantity of soluble solids 17 or a medicament in pillform, such as a penicillin tablet, in the lower chamber 16. The loaderthen pushes gate plug 23 through neck 18 into chamber 19, manipulates itto be substantially axially aligned with the seat 14, and forces it intothe seat 14 in the direction of the arrow 26 shown in Fig. 3. In sodoing, the loader may tend to push gate plug 23 beyond a truly centeredposition relative to its seat 14. If the gate plug is substantiallycylindrical and has slippery surfaces it may then tend to move fartherforward and drop into the far chamber 16 from the excessively advancedfull line position illustrated in Fig. 3. However, gate plug 23 of thestructure of the present invention avoids that tendency since when it,is in the full line position, shown in Fig. 3, its flared trailing endis compressed more than its midsection. The resulting confined expansiveforce causes the gate plug 23 to creep backward in the direction of thedot-dash arrow 27 to the dot-dash position 28, illustrated in Fig. 3,where the internal expansive forces in 'both flared ends 25., 25 aresubstantially balanced. As a result, the "gate plug 23 is automaticallyself-centered.

Similar automatic self-centering action of the gate plug 2-3 is attainedin embodiments of the type illustrated in Figs. '7 and 8. If the gateplug 23 is carelessly pushed to an excessively advanced position,illustrated in dot-dash lines at 29 "in Fig. '7 and the thrust forcesare removed from the gate plug, .it will creep back to the full lineposition shown therein for similar reasons.

In operation of the illustrated embodiments of the loaded vials of thepresent invention, a user may fire the device by applying thrust to thepiston plug 21 in the direction of .the arrow 30, shown in Fig. '8. As aresult, the capacity of the liquid chamber 19 is reduced and hydraulicpressure is applied to gate plug '23. Such hydraulic pressure issufficient 'tounseat or push the gate plug 23 forward out of its seatinto the far chamber '16 provided the liquid chamber 19 is at leastalmost wholly filled with liquid. This unseating action of the gate plug23 is illustrated in Fig. *8 and permits the body .20 of liquid to spilldown into the solids Chamber 16 so that the latter may be dissolved inthe liquid vehicle with solution being facilitated by longitudinalshaking of the device. Thereafter, the admixture or solution, .if intended for subcutaneous or injective administration, may be removed fromthe device after it has been fired by piercing the piston plug 21 with asuction cannula or hollow hypodermic needle.

It is to be understood .that the mid-portion 24 of ,the gate plug '23maybe of any desired length and lthus it may be short enough to give tothe gate ,plug a substantially hyperbolic shape in side .elevation. Theprovision of the flared ends thereof, in combination with the,cooperative features of the seats of the embodiments of the deviceillustrated in the drawing, vare ofchief importance with respect to theautomatic-self-centering actionof the gate plug.

It is important to prevent in such devices creepage of appreciableamounts of moisture from the liquid chamber to theso'lids chamber.'Hygroscopic medicinal solids may be destructively afifectedjin storageof such devices by the amount of moisture which maycreep past the gateplugs. .In devices of this type where contact between the gate plugs andtheir seats are in .very narrow zones or is of a line contact :naturemicroscopic fissures which are 1nherently presentin the surfacesofmoldedand/orblown glass and similar materials permit such .creepagepast elastic plug surfaces during an initial storage per od. Eventuallythe compressed elastic plug materlalis set .111120 these fissures toattain a secure seal butby the time that develops the extent of moisturetransfer may be such as to make the medicament unsuitable for use. Thelong surface contact between the flare-ended gate plug and its seat,whether of the crown type illustrated in Fig. 3, or of the flat typeillustrated in Fig. 7, efliciently prevents such moisture transfer,particularly during the initial portion of the storage period when thedamage usually develops.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those madeapparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and,since certain changes may be made inthe above construction and differentembodiments of the invention could be made without department from thescope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the abovedescription or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claim is intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

A vial for storage of a liquid vehicle and soluble solid materialsegregated in separate chambers having a gated and constrictedintercommunicating passage to permit admixture comprising, incombination; an elongated, substantially tubular body constrictedbetween its ends to provide a circular internal seat of certain lengthand with its ends of certain diameter and its mid-portion of a diametersubstantially less than the diameters of said body on either sidethereof to define at opposite ends of said vial a liquid chamber and asecond solids chamber; means closing off both ends of said tubular bodywith such means at the liquid chamber end of said vial being a pistonplug slidable forward in said liquid chamber to create gateplug-displacing hydraulic pressure; and an elongated, slidable,automatically self-centering gate plug of rubber-like. elastic materialhaving a mid-section of a diameter intermediate the diameter of saidseat midportion, and the diameters of said chambers slidably fitted insaid seat in compressed condition temporarily isolating said chambersfrom each other with said liquid chamber at least almost wholly filledwith liquid, said gate plug being appreciably longer than said seat andinitially having in relaxed condition prior to positioning into saidseat both of its. ends enlarged and, flared laterally to be of limitedlygreater diameters than the diameters of the ends of said seat, theenlarged flared ends being auto matically slidable to positions beyondthe ends of said seat when one of said flared ends is slid through themidportion of said seat whereby said plug automatically isself-centering and centered in said seat mid-portion, the enlargedflared end of said gate plug on. the liquid chamber side being solimitedly larger than said seat and sutficiently contractible as topermit ready hydraulic forcing thereof through said seat.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 821,579 Austen May 22, 1,906,

2,372,352 Barr Mar. 27, 1945' 2,549,417 Brown Apr. 17, 195.1

